Monday, July 17, 2017

Anything Goes

Terry Shames here: This week’s question is whether we read
sub-genres other than our favorite crime novels. The question would be easier for
me to answer if it was, “What don’t you read?”

Here’s what I don’t read a lot of: amateur detective stories—unless, and that’s a big unless, the author makes a really good
case for the amateur to step in. I just don’t enjoy the “Oooo, the local baker
got killed. Please tell me you aren’t going to investigate.” (Words spoken by a
friend, a boyfriend, or a stern cop). I know some people LOVE these. Read them
like candy, enjoy suspending their disbelief and spending a couple of hours
with a ditzy amateur. And here’s the thing: I’ve read a couple of these that I
thought were terrific. So I can’t really even say I don’t read them. I just
don’t gravitate toward them.

What it boils down to is that I’ll try pretty much anything
(where reading is concerned anyway. I don’t do high places, but I digress).
Looking at my TBR pile, I have everything from the most hard-boiled (Don
Winslow or Jo Nesbo anyone?) to humorous (Dying
for a Dude, Cindy Sample). I have police procedurals (The Gods of Guilt, Michael Connelly), a lovely light mystery (Love & Death in Burgundy, Susan
Shea), a historical mystery that I haven’t gotten around to (Mercury’s Rising, Ann Parker), foreign
affairs (A Carrion Death, Michael
Stanley), ancient times (Hand of Fire,
Judith Starkston), zany works of mayhem (Skink:
No Surrender, Carl Hiaasen), private eye, stories of intrigue,
psychological suspense novels….And so much more.

You get the picture. I am an eclectic reader. That’s true
not only in mystery, but in pretty much everything. On my TBR pile I also have
a book about the history of Wonder Woman (bought long before the movie came
out), books about medical matters, poetry, maps, history, science, biography,
mainstream fiction, memoir, travel.

That doesn’t mean that when I start reading a book I’ll
finish it. I give a book a few typos, a little formatting glitch, or a little
bad editing before I put it down, but with so many books out there, it better
be a damn good story for me to keep reading if it has those technical problems.
I recently starting reading a book that was pretty good. But the third time the
author wrote (and the editor allowed it) “there was an xxxx laying by the side of the road (or
wherever),” I couldn’t stand it anymore. The story wasn’t good enough for me
not to be thrown out of it by bad grammar. The other things that stop me
reading are a suddenly ridiculous plot twist (when I say, “Aww, come on…”
you’re toast), unintentionally bad dialogue, unbelievable characters, and
careless prose. Oddly, descriptions don’t have to be great for me to keep going
if the plot, character, and dialogue are working. Get all of it right, and you
have a reader for life! I’m talking about Timothy Hallinan, Lisa Brackmann,
Robert Crais, Deborah Crombie, Charles Todd, Catriona McPherson, James Ziskin,
for a few examples. These are writers that I know I can trust to tell me a good
story and to write it well. Genre-hopping? You bet.

2 comments:

I'll read most mystery/crime sub-genres, except medical and legal. I've tried them; different authors, different time periods, different general settings (England, U.S., France), and none of them worked for me. The exception I make is Earle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason books, which I love.

Otherwise, cozy - though not simpering - mysteries (I'm talking Christe, Nero Wolfe and the like), hard-boiled, historical, even crossovers with SF. I also read a lot of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction.

Thanks for the compliment, Terry! I know your bookshelves (or piles) well enough to know you really do read widely. I have found that the giveaway books at conventions have opened doors for me to read authors I might not have noticed, and that's great.

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Mondays with Susan

Susan C. Shea debuts a new series, a French village mystery, Love & Death in Burgundy in spring 2017 (St. Martin's Minotaur). The third in her Dani O'Rourke series came out in Feb. 2016. She lives in Marin County, CA.

Mondays with Terry

Terry Shames writes the Macavity Award-winning Samuel Craddock series, set in small-town Texas. In 2015 BookPeople dubbed her one of the top five Texas mystery authors.

Tuesdays with RM

RM Greenaway has worked in nightclubs, darkrooms, and courthouses. She writes the B.C. BLUES crime series, featuring RCMP detectives Leith and Dion. Her first novel COLD GIRL, winner of the 2014 Arthur Ellis Unhanged award, will be released 26 March 2016.

Tuesdays with R.J.

R.J. Harlick is the author of the acclaimed Meg Harris mystery series set in the wilds of Quebec. Her love for Canada’s untamed wilds is the inspiration for her series. The 4th book, Arctic Blue Death, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.

Wednesdays with Cathy

Cathy Ace writes the globe-trotting Cait Morgan Mysteries, (Bony Blithe winner 2015 - Agatha’s Canadian cousin), and the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries, set in her native Wales. She lives in rural British Columbia.

Wednesdays with Dietrich

Dietrich Kalteis is the award-winning author of Ride the Lightning, The Deadbeat Club, Triggerfish and House of Blazes. His newly completed novels, Zero Avenue and Poughkeepsie Shuffle are slated for release in 2017 through his publisher ECW Press. Nearly fifty of his short stories have been published internationally, and his screenplay Between Jobs is a past-finalist in the Los Angeles Screenplay Festival. He lives with his family in West Vancouver, British Columbia and is currently working on his next novel.

Thursdays with Catriona

Catriona McPherson is the Anthony, Agatha, Macavity, IndieFab and Lefty winning author of the DANDY GILVER series set in Scotland in the 1920s, as well as two darker stand-alones AS SHE LEFT IT and THE DAY SHE DIED. Catriona lives in northern California with a black cat and a scientist.

Thursdays with Jim

James W. Ziskin (Jim to his friends) is the author of the Edgar-, Anthony-, Barry-, Lefty-, and Macavity-nominated Ellie Stone Mysteries. He's 6'2", weighs 200 pounds, and writes like a girl.

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Fridays with Danny

Danny Gardner's work has appeared in Beat to a Pulp, Out of the Gutter, and Literary Orphans Journal. His first novel, A NEGRO AND AN OFAY, will be released May 2017 by Down And Out Books. His short fiction will be featured in JUST TO WATCH HIM DIE, a Johnny Cash inspired anthology, published by Gutter Books in Winter 2016.